Bordens Social Psychology (3rd ed)

Prejudice and

Discrimination

If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon.

—George Aiken

The seeds for conflict and prejudice were planted somewhere in the hills of Palmyra, New York, in 1830. There a young man named Joseph Smith, Jr., received a vision from the angel Moroni. Centuries before, Moroni, as a priest of the Nephites, wrote the history of his religion on a set of golden plates and buried them in the hills of Palmyra. When Moroni appeared to Smith, he revealed the location of the plates and gave him the ability to transcribe the ancient writings into English. This translated text became the Book of Mormon, the cornerstone of the Mormon religion. The Book of Mormon contained many discrepancies from the Bible. For example, it suggested that God and Jesus Christ were made of flesh and bone.

The conflicts between this newly emerging religion and established Christianity inevitably led to hostile feelings and attitudes between the two groups. Almost from the moment of Joseph Smith’s revelations, the persecution of the Mormons began. Leaving Palmyra, the Mormons established a settlement in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831, but it was a disaster. The Mormons didn’t fit in well with the existing community. For example, the Mormons supported the Democratic Party, whereas most of the Christian population in Kirtland supported the Whigs. Mormonism also was a threat to the colonial idea of a single religion in a community. At a time when heresy was a serious crime, the Mormons were seen as outcast heretics. As a result, the Mormons were the targets of scathing newspaper articles that grossly distorted their religion. Mormons were socially ostracized, were denied jobs, became the targets of economic boycotts, and lived under constant threat of attack.

Because of the hostile environment in Kirtland, the Mormons moved on, splitting into two groups. One group began a settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the other in Independence, Missouri. In neither place did the Mormons find peace. Near Nauvoo, for example, a Mormon settlement was burned to

Key Questions

As you read this chapter, find the answers to the following questions:

1.How are prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination defined?

2.What is the relationship among prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination?

3.What evidence is there for the prevalence of these three concepts from a historical perspective?

4.What are the personality roots of prejudice?

5.How does gender relate to prejudice?

6.What are the social roots of prejudice?

7.What is modern racism, and what are the criticisms of it?

8.What are the cognitive roots of prejudice?

9.How do cognitive biases contribute to prejudice?

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10.Are stereotypes ever accurate, and can they be overcome?

11.What are implicit and explicit stereotypes?

12.How do prejudiced and nonprejudiced individuals differ?

13.What is the impact of prejudice on those who are its target?

14.How can a person who is the target of prejudice cope with being a target?

15.What can be done about prejudice?

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the ground, and its inhabitants were forced to take cover in a rain-soaked woods until they could make it to Nauvoo. At the Independence settlement in 1833, Mormon Bishop Edward Partridge was tarred and feathered after refusing to close a store and print shop he supervised. The tensions in Missouri grew so bad that then Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued the following order: “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary, for the public peace” (Arrington & Bitton, 1979).

As a result of the prejudice experienced by the Mormons, they became more clannish, trading among themselves and generally keeping to themselves. As you might imagine, this further enraged the Christian community that hoped to benefit economically from the Mormon presence. It was not uncommon for Mormons to become the targets of vicious physical attacks or even to be driven out of a territory. There was even talk of establishing an independent Mormon state, but eventually, the Mormons settled in Utah.

The fate of the Mormons during the 1800s eerily foreshadowed the treatment of other groups later in history (e.g., Armenians in Turkey, Jews in Europe, ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia). How could the Mormons have been treated so badly in a country with a Constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion and founded on the premise of religious tolerance?

Attitudes provide us with a way of organizing information about objects and a way to attach an affective response to that object (e.g., like or dislike). Under the right circumstances, attitudes predict one’s behavior. In this chapter, we explore a special type of attitude directed at groups of people: prejudice. We look for the underlying causes of incidents such as the Mormon experience and the other acts of prejudice outlined. We ask, How do prejudiced individuals arrive at their views? Is it something about their personalities that leads them to prejudice-based acts? Or do the causes lie more in the social situations? What cognitive processes cause them to have negative attitudes toward those they perceive to be different from themselves? How pervasive and unalterable are those processes in human beings? What are the effects of being a target of prejudice and discrimination? What can we do to reduce prejudice and bring our society closer to its ideals?

prejudice A biased attitude, positive or negative, based on insufficient information and directed at a group, which leads to prejudgment of members of that group.

The Dynamics of Prejudice, Stereotypes,

and Discrimination

When we consider prejudice we really must consider two other interrelated concepts: stereotyping and discrimination. Taken together, these three make up a triad of processes that contribute to negative attitudes, emotions, and behaviors directed at members of certain social groups. First, we define just what social psychologists mean by the term prejudice and the related concepts of stereotype and discrimination.

Prejudice

The term prejudice refers to a biased, often negative, attitude toward a group of people. Prejudicial attitudes include belief structures, which contain information about a group of people, expectations concerning their behavior, and emotions directed at them. When negative prejudice is directed toward a group, it leads to prejudgment of the individual members of that group and negative emotions directed at them as well. It is important

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to note that the nature of the emotion directed at a group of people depends on the group to which they belong (Cottrell & Neuberg, 2005). In fact, Cottrell and Neuberg have constructed “profiles” characterizing the emotions directed at members of various groups. For example,AfricanAmericans (relative to EuropeanAmericans) yield a profile showing anger/resentment, fear, disgust, and pity. In contrast, Native Americans mostly elicited pity with low levels of anger/resentment, disgust, and fear.

Prejudice also involves cognitive appraisals that are tied to different emotions directed at members of stigmatized groups (Nelson, 2002). For example, fear might be elicited if you find yourself stranded late at night in a neighborhood with a sizeable minority population. On the other hand, you might feel respect when at a professional meeting that includes members from that very same minority group. In short, we appraise (evaluate) a situation and experience an emotion consistent with that appraisal. This can account for the fact that we rarely exhibit prejudice toward all members of a stigmatized group (Nelson, 2002). We may display prejudice toward some members of a group, but not toward others in that group.

Of course, prejudice can be either positive or negative. Fans of a particular sports team, for example, are typically prejudiced in favor of their team. They often believe calls made against their team are unfair, even when the referees are being impartial. Social psychologists, however, have been more interested in prejudice that involves a negative bias—that is, when one group assumes the worst about another group and may base negative behaviors on these assumptions. It is this latter form of prejudice that is the subject of this chapter.

Different Forms of Prejudice

Prejudice comes in a variety of forms, the most visible of which are racism and sexism. Racism is the negative evaluation of others primarily because of their skin color. It includes the belief that one racial group is inherently superior to another. Sexism is the negative evaluation of others because of their gender (Lips, 1993). Of course, other forms of prejudice exist, such as religious and ethnic prejudice and heterosexism (negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians), but racism and sexism are the two most widespread prejudices within U.S. society.

We must be very careful when we want to approach the issue of prejudice from a scientific perspective not to get caught up in the web of definitions of prejudice floating around in our culture. Partisan political groups and some media have propagated definitions for prejudice that encompass behaviors that a more scientific definition would not. For example, on the Web site of the Center for the Study of White American Culture (http://www.euroamerican.org/library/Racismdf.asp), we are offered the following definition of racism (actually, this is just the first among many principles defining racism):

Racism is an ideological, structural, and historic stratification process by which the population of European descent, through its individual and institutional distress patterns, intentionally has been able to sustain, to its own best advantage, the dynamic mechanics of upward or downward mobility (of fluid status assignment) to the general disadvantage of the population designated as nonwhite (on a global scale), using skin color, gender, class, ethnicity or nonwestern nationality as the main indexical criteria used for enforcing differential resource allocation decisions that contribute to decisive changes in relative racial standing in ways most favoring the populations designated as “white.”

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Notice that this definition ties the notion of racism to the idea of keeping certain groups economically disadvantaged. What is interesting about the definition of racism offered on this site is how close it sounds to a socialist/Marxist manifesto. With only slight modifications, the definition sounds much like such a manifesto. For example, what follows is the same definition offered previously with a few strategic wording changes (shown in italics):

Capitalism is an ideological, structural and historic stratification process by which the ruling elite, through its individual and institutional distress patterns, intentionally has been able to sustain, to its own best advantage, the dynamic mechanics of upward or downward mobility (of fluid status assignment) to the general disadvantage of the proletariat (on a global scale), using social class as the main criterion used for enforcing differential resource allocation decisions that contribute to decisive changes in relative racial standing in ways most favoring the ruling elite.

Another thing we need to be careful about is the overapplication of the term racism (or any other –ism) to behaviors not usually associated with prejudicial attitudes.Another trend in our culture by partisan political parties and the media is to apply the term racism to just about anything they see as opposing certain political ideas. Table 4.1 shows a list of such applications collected from the Internet. You could be branded as some kind of “-ist” if you adhere to one of the views listed. The point we wish to make is whether or not opposing some political idea or goals of a group makes you a racist.

What Exactly Does Race Mean?

An important note should be added here about the concept of race. Throughout U.S. history, racial categories have been used to distinguish groups of human beings from one another. However, biologically speaking, race is an elusive and problematic concept. A personʼs race is not something inherited as a package from his or her parents; nor are biological characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, facial features, and so on valid indicators of oneʼs ethnic or cultural background. Consider, for example, an individual whose mother is Japanese and father is African American, or a blond, blueeyed person who is listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as Native American because her maternal grandmother was Cherokee. To attempt to define these individuals by race is inaccurate and inappropriate. Although many scientists maintain that race does not exist as a biological concept, it does exist as a social construct.

People perceive and categorize others as members of racial groups and often act toward them according to cultural prejudices. In this social sense, race and racism are very real and important factors in human relations. When we refer to race in this book, such as when we discuss race-related violence, it is this socially constructed concept, with its historical, societal, and cultural significance, that we mean.

Stereotypes

Prejudicial attitudes do not stem from perceived physical differences among people, such as skin color or gender. Rather, prejudice relates more directly to the characteristics we assume members of a different racial, ethnic, or other group have. In other words, it relates to the way we think about others.

People have a strong tendency to categorize objects based on perceptual features or uses. We categorize chairs, tables, desks, and lamps as furniture. We categorize love, hate, fear, and jealousy as emotions. And we categorize people on the basis of their

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Table 4.1 Overapplications of the Concept of Prejudice

You might be a racist (or some kind of –ist) if:

1.You think that a state should decide whether its flag should display the Confederate battle flag.

2.You behave in ways that discriminate against minorities, even if discrimination was not intended.

3.You like a team’s mascot that has a racial origin (e.g., Native American).

4.You “apply words like backward, primitive, uncivilized, savage, barbaric, or undeveloped to people whose technology [is less advanced]” (http://fic.ic.org/ cmag/90/4490.html).

5.You believe that monotheism is better than polytheism.

6.You believe that English should be the official language of the United States.

7.You DON’T believe that all “accents” and “dialects” are legitimate, proper, and equal in value.”

8.You oppose affirmative action.

9.You oppose gay marriage.

race, gender, nationality, and other obvious features. Of course, categorization is adaptive in the sense that it allows us to direct similar behaviors toward an entire class of objects or people. We do not have to choose a new response each time we encounter a categorized object.

Categorization is not necessarily the same as prejudice, although the first process powerfully influences the second. We sometimes take our predisposition to categorize too far, developing rigid and overgeneralized images of groups. This rigid categorization—this rigid set of positive or negative beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group—is a stereotype (Judd & Park, 1993; Stangor & Lange, 1994). For example, we may believe that all lawyers are smart, a positive stereotype; or we may believe that all lawyers are devious, a negative stereotype. Many years ago, the political journalist Walter Lippmann (1922) aptly called stereotypes “pictures in our heads.” When we encounter someone new who has a clear membership in one or another group, we reach back into our memory banks of stereotypes, find the appropriate picture, and fit the person to it.

In general, stereotyping is simply part of the way we do business cognitively every day. It is part of our cognitive “toolbox” (Gilbert & Hixon, 1991). We all have made judgments about individuals (Boy Scout leader, police officer, college student, feminist) based solely on their group membership. Stereotyping is a time saver; we look in our toolbox, find the appropriate utensil, and characterize the college student. It certainly takes less time and energy than trying to get to know that person (individuation; Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen, 1994). Again, this is an example of the cognitive miser at work. Of course, this means we will make some very unfair, even destructive judgments of individuals. All of us recoil at the idea that we are being judged solely on the basis of some notion that the evaluator has of group membership.

stereotype A set of beliefs, positive or negative, about the characteristics or attributes of a group, resulting in rigid and overgeneralized images of members of that group.

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The Content of Stereotypes

What exactly constitutes a stereotype?Are all stereotypes essentially the same? What kinds of emotions do different stereotypes elicit? The answers to these questions can inform us on the very nature of stereotypes. Regardless of the actual beliefs and information that underlie a stereotype, there appear to be two dimensions underlying stereotypes: warmth (liking or disliking) and competence (respect or disrespect) (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002). According to Fiske et al., these two dimensions combine to define different types of stereotypes. For example, high warmth and high competence yield a positive stereotype involving admiration and pride. Low warmth and low competence results in a negative stereotype involving resentment and anger. Finally, there can be mixed stereotypes involving high competence and low warmth or low competence and high warmth.

Explicit and Implicit Stereotypes

Stereotypes, like prejudicial attitudes, exist on the explicit and implicit level. Explicit stereotypes are those of which we are consciously aware, and they are under the influence of controlled processing. Implicit stereotypes operate on an unconscious level and are activated automatically when a member of a minority group is encountered in the right situation. The operation of implicit stereotypes was demonstrated in an interesting experiment conducted by Banaji, Harden, and Rothman (1993). Participants first performed a “priming task,” which involved unscrambling sentences indicating either a male stereotype (aggressiveness), a female stereotype (dependence), or neutral sentences (neutral prime). Later, in a supposedly unrelated experiment, participants read a story depicting either a dependent (male or female) or an aggressive (male or female) target person. Participants then rated the target person in the story for the stereotypic or nonstereotypic trait.

The results of this experiment are shown in Figure 4.1. Notice that for both the male and female stereotypic traits, the trait was rated the same when the prime was neutral, regardless of the gender of the target. However, when the prime activated an implicit gender stereotype, the female stereotypic trait (dependence) was rated higher for female targets than for male targets. The opposite was true for the male stereotypic trait (aggressiveness). Here, aggressiveness was rated higher for male targets than for female targets. An incidental encounter with a stereotype (in this experiment, the prime) can affect evaluations of an individual who is a member of a given social category (e.g., male or female). Participants judged a stereotypic trait more extremely when the stereotype had been activated with a prime than when it had not. Thus, stereotyped information can influence how we judge members of a social group even if we are not consciously aware that it is happening (Banaji et al., 1993).

Explicit and implicit stereotypes operate on two separate levels (controlled processing or automatic processing) and affect judgments differently, depending on the type of judgment a person is required to make (Dovidio, Kawakami, Johnson, Johnson, & Howard, 1997). Dovidio and colleagues found that when a judgmental task required some cognitive effort (in this experiment, to determine whether a black defendant was guilty or not guilty of a crime), explicit racial attitudes correlated with judgments. However, implicit racial attitudes were not correlated with the outcome on the guilt-judgment task. Conversely, on a task requiring a more spontaneous, automatic response (in this experiment, a word-completion task on which an ambiguous incomplete word could be completed in a couple of ways—e.g., b_d could be completed as bad or bed), implicit attitudes correlated highly with outcome judgments. Thus, explicit and implicit racial attitudes relate to different tasks. Explicit attitudes related more closely to the guiltinnocence task, which required controlled processing. Implicit attitudes related more closely to the word-completion task, which was mediated by automatic processing.

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Figure 4.1 Results from an experiment on implicit stereotypes. When a prime activates an implicit female gender stereotype, a female stereotypic trait (dependence) was rated higher for female than for male targets. The opposite was true for the implicit male stereotypic trait (aggressiveness).

Based on data from Banaji, Harden, and

Rothman (1993).

Can implicit stereotypes translate into overt differences in behavior directed at blacks and whites? In one experiment, Correll, Park, Judd, and Wittenbrink (2002) had college students play a simple video game. The task was for participants to shoot only armed suspects in the game. The race of the target varied between black and white, some of whom were armed and some unarmed. The results of their first experiment, shown in Figure 4.2, showed that white participants shot at a black armed target more quickly than a white armed target. They also decided NOT to shoot at an unarmed target more quickly if the target was white as compared to black. Correll et al. also provided evidence that the observed “shooter bias” was more related to an individual adhering to cultural biases about blacks as violent and dangerous rather than personally held prejudice or stereotypes.

The automatic activation of stereotypes has been characterized as being a normal part of our cognitive toolboxes that improves the efficiency of our cognitive lives (Sherman, 2001). However, as we have seen, this increased efficiency isnʼt always a good thing. Can this predisposition toward automatic activation of stereotypes be countered? Fortunately, the answer is yes. Automatic stereotypes can be inhibited under a variety of conditions (Sassenberg & Moskowitz, 2005), including thinking of a counter-stereotypic image or if stereotype activation is perceived to threaten oneʼs self-esteem. Sassenberg and Moskowitz suggest that it is possible to train a person to inhibit automatic activation of stereotypes on a general level so that a wide variety of automatic stereotypes can be inhibited, not just specific ones.

Sassenberg and Moskowitz (2005) investigated the impact of inducing participants to “think different” when it comes to members of minority groups. Thinking different means “one has a mindset in which one is avoiding the typical associations with those groups—oneʼs stereotypes” (p. 507). In their first experiment, Sassenberg and Moskowitz had participants adopt one of two mindsets. The first mindset was a “creative mindset” in which participants were told to think of two or three times that they were creative. The second mindset was a “thoughtful mindset” in which participants were told to think of two or three times they behaved in a thoughtful way.

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Figure 4.2 Reaction times to shoot armed or unarmed black or white suspects.

Based on data from Correll, Park, Judd, and

Wittenbrink (2002).

After doing this, all participants completed a stereotype activation task. Sassenberg and Moskowitz found that stereotypes were inhibited when the “creative mindset” was activated, but not when the “thoughtful mindset” was activated. By encouraging participants to think creatively, the researchers were able to inhibit the activation of automatic stereotypes about African Americans. Sassenberg and Moskowitz suggest that encouraging people to “think differently” can help them inhibit a wide range of automatically activated stereotypes.

The “shooter bias” just discussed also can be modified with some work (Plant & Peruche, 2005). Plant and Peruche found that police officers showed the shooter bias during early trials with a computer game that presented armed or unarmed black or white suspects. However, after a number of trials, the bias was reduced. The average number of errors of shooting at an unarmed suspect was different for blacks and whites during early trials, but not during late trials. During the early trials the officers were more likely to shoot at an unarmed black suspect than an unarmed white suspect. During the later trials the rate of error was equivalent for the unarmed black and white suspects. Thus, police officers were able to modify their behavior in a way that significantly reduced the shooter bias.

Finally, two interesting questions center on when implicit stereotypes develop and when they become distinct from explicit stereotypes. One study sheds light on these two questions. Baron and Banaji (2005) conducted an experiment with 6-year-olds, 10- year-olds, and adults. Using a modified version of the Implict Attitudes Test (IAT) for children, Baron and Banaji found evidence for anti-black implicit attitudes even among the 6-year-olds. Interestingly, the 6-year-olds also showed correspondingly high levels of explicit prejudice. However, whereas the 10-year-olds and adults showed evidence of implicit prejudice, they showed less explicit prejudice. Evidently, by the time a child is 10 years old, he or she has learned that it is not socially acceptable to express stereotypes and prejudice overtly. But, the implicit stereotypes and prejudice are there and are expressed in subtle ways.

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Stereotypes as Judgmental Heuristics

Another way that implicit stereotypes manifest themselves is by acting as judgmental heuristics (Bodenhauser & Wyer, 1985). For example, if a person commits a crime that is stereotype consistent (compared to one that is not stereotype consistent), observers assign a higher penalty, recall fewer facts about the case, and use stereotype-based information to make a judgment (Bodenhauser & Wyer, 1985). Generally, when a negative behavior is stereotype consistent, observers attribute the negative behavior to internal, stable characteristics. Consequently, the crime or behavior is seen as an enduring character flaw likely to lead to the behavior again.

This effect of using stereotype-consistent information to make judgments is especially likely to occur when we are faced with a difficult cognitive task. Recall from Chapter 3 that many of us are cognitive misers, and we look for the path of least resistance when using information to make a decision. When faced with a situation in which we have both stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information about a person, more stereotype-consistent information than inconsistent information is likely to be recalled (Macrae, Hewstone, & Griffiths, 1993). As Macrae and colleagues suggested, “when the information-processing gets tough, stereotypes (as heuristic structures) get going” (p. 79).

There are also individual differences in the extent to which stereotypes are formed and used. Levy, Stroessner, and Dweck (1998) suggested that individuals use implicit theories to make judgments about others. That is, individuals use their past experience to form a theory about what members of other groups are like. According to Levy and colleagues, there are two types of implicit theories: entity theories and incremental theories. Entity theorists adhere to the idea that another personʼs traits are fixed and will not vary according to the situation. Incremental theorists do not see traits as fixed. Rather, they see them as having the ability to change over time and situations (Levy et al., 1998). A central question addressed by Levy and colleagues was whether entity and incremental theorists would differ in their predisposition to form and use stereotypes. Based on the results of five experiments, Levy and colleagues concluded that compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists:

•Were more likely to use stereotypes.

•Were more likely to agree strongly with stereotypes.

•Were more likely to see stereotypes as representing inborn, inherent group differences.

•Tended to make more extreme judgments based on little information about the characteristics of members of a stereotyped group.

•Perceived a stereotyped group as having less intramember diversity.

•Were more likely to form stereotypes.

In addition to the cognitive functions of stereotypes, there is also an emotional component (Jussim, Nelson, Manis, & Soffin, 1995). According to Jussim and colleagues, once you stereotype a person, you attach a label to that person that is used to evaluate and judge members of that personʼs group. Typically, a label attached to a stereotyped group is negative. This negative label generates negative affect and mediates judgments of members of the stereotyped group. Jussim and colleagues pointed out that this emotional component of a stereotype is more important in judging others than is the cognitive function (information storage and categorization) of the stereotype.

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discrimination Overt behavior—often negatively directed toward a particular group and often tied to prejudicial attitudes—which involves behaving in different ways toward members of different groups.

Social Psychology

Discrimination

Discrimination is the behavioral component accompanying prejudice. Discrimination occurs when members of a particular group are subjected to behaviors that are different from the behaviors directed at other groups. For example, if members of a certain racial group are denied housing in a neighborhood open to other groups, that group is being discriminated against. Discrimination takes many forms. For example, it was not uncommon in the 19th through mid-20th centuries to see job advertisements that said “Irish need not apply” or “Jews need not apply.” It was also fairly common practice to restrict access to public places, such as beaches, for Jews and blacks. And in the U.S. South, there were separate bathroom facilities, drinking fountains, and schools, and minorities were denied service at certain businesses. This separation of people based on racial, ethnic, religious, or gender groups is discrimination.

It is important to point out that discrimination often is a product of prejudice. Negative attitudes and assumptions about people based on their group affiliation have historically been at the root of prejudice. So, it is clear that many instances of discrimination can be traced directly to underlying prejudicial attitudes. However, discrimination can occur even in the absence of underlying prejudice. For example, imagine an owner of a small company who lives in a town where there are no minorities. This person hires all white employees. Now, the owner might be the most liberal-minded person in the world who would never discriminate based on race. However, his actions would technically be classified as discrimination. In this case the discrimination is not based on any underlying prejudice. Rather, it is based on the demographics of the area in which the company exists.

The Persistence and Recurrence of Prejudice

and Stereotypes

Throughout history, members of majority groups (those in power) have held stereotypical images of members of minority groups (those not in power). These images supported prejudicial feelings, discriminatory behavior, and even wide-scale violence directed against minority-group members.

History teaches us that stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes are quite enduring. For example, some stereotypes of Jews and Africans are hundreds of years old. Prejudice appears to be an integral part of human existence. However, stereotypes and feelings may change, albeit slowly, as the context of our feelings toward other groups changes. For example, during and just after World War II, Americans had negative feelings toward the Japanese. For roughly the next 40 years, the two countries were at peace and had a harmonious relationship. This was rooted in the fact that the postwar American occupation of Japan (1945–1951) was benign. The Americans helped the Japanese rebuild their war-shattered factories, and the Japanese began to compete in world markets. But in the difficult economic times of the 1980s and early 1990s, many of the beliefs that characterized Japanese-American relations during World War II reemerged, although in somewhat modified form. Compared to how Japanese view Americans, Americans tend to see Japanese as more competitive, hard working, prejudiced, and crafty (see Figure 4.3). Japanese have a slight tendency to see Americans as undereducated, lazy, and not terribly hard working. Americans see Japanese as unfair, arrogant, and overdisciplined, as grinds who do nothing but work hard because of their conformity to group values (Weisman, 1991). Japanese, for their part, see Americans as arrogant